The potential for excellence on the girls' track team

The 2015 High School for Math, Science and Engineering’s girls' outdoor track team was made up of a majority of underclassmen. Interestingly, this didn't come as a surprise to coach Tom Henning.

The track team usually attracts a lot of freshmen runners every year. This season was no different, as the outdoor girls' track team consisted of 67% freshmen. These freshmen, Savanna Hang, Anna Mumford, Cindy Zhang, and Yong Yi Zhang used the track team to adjust to high school.

Yong Yi Zhang (l.), Cindy Zhang (r.) /Ed Yaker 

“Track, especially cross country, helped me meet students I wouldn’t have met before,” Mumford said. “Cross Country was before school started so that helped me make friends I wouldn’t normally make. The same thing happened with track.”

Inexperience was a major obstacle that the team had to overcome in order to succeed. Mumford recalled junior Michelle Lee’s excellent leadership which kept the team composed throughout the season.

“Michelle led by example," she said. "She showed up to practice even when she didn’t need to. She was always the fastest runner, the fact that she came to practice everyday displays her excellent leadership”

Success is probable for the next few seasons considering the team’s youth. Their potential for excellence was displayed this year. A motivated Lee and a promising group of rising sophomores will improve with more experience.

Lone varsity runner on the HSMSE girls' track team

Michelle Lee / Tom Henning

The HSMSE girls' outdoor track team has six members, but only has one varsity runner, junior Michelle Lee. She inherited a leadership role because she is the oldest and the most experienced runner on the team.

Lee did not participate in relays like her underclassmen teammates, and ran only individual races due to her status as the only varsity runner. Even though she did not run with them in the races, she still influenced the younger runners to perform their best. Lee embraced her front runner role by staying positive and setting an example to her younger teammates.

“What I try to do is through all the workouts I just give my all,” Lee said. “If they [the team] see that I’m actually putting in the effort, I want them to be motivated by that.”

This season, Lee ran exceptionally well in the 400 meter intermediate hurdles finishing third in the Manhattan Borough Championships with her best time at 1 minute and 16.6 seconds. Despite a great effort, Lee fell short of reaching the City Championships this season. She has one main goal for next season.

"I would like to make it to City Championships for the girls 400 meter intermediate hurdles [next season]," she said.

Her success gives the team a competitive edge; however, Lee cannot individually run for a whole team.

“We have a really strong freshman relay team right now” she said. “There is one other sophomore, Samantha Chan, and she’s also a really good long jumper and short distance runner. In general we have a very promising team.”

Next season Lee will be joined by Chan on varsity. While they do not have the numbers for a relay team, Lee will no longer have a journey of solitude in girls' varsity track.

The most prominent family at HSMSE

Kleant Daci 2013 / Tom Henning

The High School for Math, Science and Engineering has a limited amount of sports; however, a great number of students aspire to achieve in cross country. The Flying Dragons' success as a team, in size and in competition, is due to the friendly environment that the runners create for each other.

Cross country is the most popular sport in the school because it attracts all different types of student-athletes.

“I believe many people joined cross country because we built up a reputation of being a very supportive and kind team, but also it is a place for those who probably aren't the most coordinated of athletes but happen to be talented runners instead,” said three year member Kleant Daci.

Even though cross country is fundamentally an individual sport, the members of the Flying Dragons are very unified. Although they usually don’t run with each other, they still work out together like any other team. The practices help the team devise strategies and build mental endurance for the races, helping each other reach their full potential.

“It almost feels like a big, big family,” said freshman runner Chae Young Kim.

There is a small number amount of girls on the cross country team, but they work hard to keep up with the guys.

“I don't know if I would enjoy [having more girls on the team] more because being on a co-ed team encourages me to run as fast as the guys,” girls captain Michelle Lee said. “I can't just give up because I'm a girl.”

The outcomes of this unified and family-like team helped them reach the city finals. A large number of new students are expected to join cross country again next September. Using what they learned this year, they seem more than ready to stay as a family and look to run even farther than they did before.